Among the countries of the UNECE region, between 2007 and 2011 Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation saw the highest increases in real wages. Finland and Spain also saw increases, though to a much lesser extent.

In Greece, real wages, which had increased considerably in 2009, began to fall in 2010 and 2011.

In the United Kingdom, nominal wages increased at a slower rate than inflation. This meant a fall in the purchasing power of wage earners.

In the Czech Republic, Germany, Israel and the United States, nominal wages and consumer inflation varied at almost the same rate.

Real wage variations from 2007 to 2011, based on the developments in nominal wages adjusted for consumer price inflation. This was created by comparing the data for wages and inflation in each year, and then comparing these figures to 2007 as a base year.